Well, I tried yet another bit on Mia on Wednesday, a 3-piece snaffle with a copper roller in the middle. While she was more accepting of the bit I was still getting some head tossing when I applied rein aids. Tear my hair out time, what COULD be wrong? I had lightened my contact, which she liked, I was doing my rein aids lighter and lighter, which met with Mia's approval, Debbie said my hands were fine, and what else could it be? Debbie and I discussed it and…

Check the Portion Sizing – many people get confused with portion sizing and overeat with their meals. Restaurants are especially bad and will give you servings that give you what you need in one day, all in one meal!

People often tell me that their horses leg yield very well as far as going sideways is concerned, but they tend to toss their heads and show resistance to the reins. In desperation, some riders even use a tie down to put pressure on the nose to discourage their horses from yanking at the reins.

If your horse finds it fairly easy to cross his legs and move sideways with his body, yet he's tossing his head during leg yields, it sounds like he's objecting to your…

Things are really moving with Brody! In a sometimes baffling, inconsistent way, but I’m enjoying the progress and trying to recognize Brody’s ideas and efforts to help me understand how to improve our communication.…

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE): a disease that has increased in Eastern Canada and for which prevention is needed.

EEE is deadly arthropod-borne viral encephalitis that causes inflammation of the brain and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes that feed on both birds and mammals can become infected with the EEE virus and are responsible for transmitting the disease. The fluctuation in case numbers year-to-year is not…

My little QH mare, Molly, came to me last spring with a big bump on her shoulder that my vet and I just assumed was an old (and cold) injury. After about a month, it opened up and became a nasty weeping thing. Even after it was operated on, it is still active. Thankfully, my barn owner had an old Rhino Wug she suggested I use and I have bought two more this season. They don’t bother the bump at all like many other rugs that sit right on the scapula. Molly is happy in her lovely blankets and I… Continue

I am often asked for reference material and what I recommend for anyone wishing to educate themselves in a little more detail after they have a saddle fit evaluation with one of our saddlefitters, so I have come up with a list of books that I use as part of my ‘saddlefitting bible’. If any of you have come across a book that would be a great…

Last week a few of my family members and I went to the Equine Affair in Massachusetts. One of the booths there was for Dressage Training Online. My Uncle knows my interest in learning dressage and bought me a month and also received a free month for my Christmas present. I just joined yesterday and have probably watched about 4 hours of videos already. I've watched a bunch of…

For the last two months or so I had been driving by this new sign in Midland, NC saying Tack Exchange. Finally I found the store in the rear room of a beauty salon! I haven't entered a beauty salon in around 40 years, but this one didn't smell too bad so I ventured in. The owner of the salon has started a consignment tack store, with bits, saddles, clothes,…

Whether you are training a show horse or back yard pet, when you
start training is as important as what you are training your horse to
do. Many people wait until a horse is four or five years old to start
training, suggesting that a horse is too physically immature to bear the weight
of a human on their back before then. That argument has validity because
horses do not physically mature until they are approximately seven
years old. However the longer… Continue

In response to Kim Schmittendorf's blog about Horse Husbands, my first response was, "Yes, I supported my wife after she spent nearly 40 years not riding, between the time she started university and the time I was able financially to support a horse plus lessons." However, some of us "Horse Husbands" have found ourselves, after not riding at all in the past 50++ years, falling head over heals in love with our 4 legged friends. My lovely mate could say she wants to drop the ponys altogether… Continue

I wasn’t born in a barn. It was the small building south of the barn- our house. As the youngest, there were times that I needed a baby sitter, but there weren’t always hands free for that job on our farm. I gave everyone a good…